Mississippi River

Three waterways were closed to recreational boaters Friday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul district due to increasing high water flows in the Mississippi River. The locks closed included Upper St. Anthony Falls, Lower St. Anthony Falls and Lock and Dam 1, located next to Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis.

WCCO has confirmed the identity of one of the two men who drove an SUV into the Mississippi River in Anoka early Friday morning. Ramsey Police say they received a report of an off-roading SUV that was driving into the river at about 1:30 a.m. Witnesses say the vehicle was first driving through a yard behind a home when the driver stopped for a moment at the river’s edge, and then drove down the bank.

A piece of St. Paul history came down Sunday morning in dramatic fashion. Demolition crews brought down a towering smokestack as part of the ongoing demolition of the Island Station Power plant. After standing over the Mississippi riverfront for more than 90 years, the 280-foot smokestack crumbled in a matter of seconds.

Crews have placed oil-absorbing booms and sandbags along railroad tracks in southeastern Minnesota to soak up oil that leaked out of a tanker car last month. The car dribbled about 12,000 gallons between Red Wing and Winona Feb. 3.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says Lock and Dam 8 near Genoa, Wis., will reopen a week later than scheduled. The facility originally was scheduled to reopen March 10, but the reopening has been pushed back to March 17.

The body of a 49-year-old woman was recovered from the Mississippi River in Wabasha, Minn. On Thursday morning, officers were summoned to the river just south of the Eagle Center on Lawrence Boulevard after being alerted that someone may have gone off the ice and into the river.

Family and friends of a La Crosse, Wis., man who’s presumed drowned have spent the past week on the banks of the Mississippi River as a volunteer search crew works to recover his body. Chad Kingsbury is the brother of the missing man, 29-year-old Andrew Kingsbury.

Five frigid days have passed since an SUV plunged into the Mississippi River, killing four people. The deadly accident happened Sunday morning in Winona after Andrew Kingsbury, Matthew Erickson, Christina Hauser and Blake Overland left a local bar. Searchers have spent the week trying to find the body of 29-year-old Kingsbury. Chief Deputy Ron Ganrude with the Winona County Sheriff’s office has spent several days aiding in the search.

A search for a fourth victim presumed drowned when an SUV plunged into the Mississippi River is resuming in Winona County. Sheriff Dave Brand says crews will drill holes in the ice and lower a camera into the river Tuesday.

Recovery crews used a robotic device Monday to search the Mississippi River in downtown Winona for the bodies of two men believed to have drowned along with two others when an SUV ended up in the icy waterway.

Rescuers pulled two bodies from a car that plunged into the Mississippi River in Winona, Minn. on Sunday. The Winona County Law Enforcement Center said they received a report around 7:19 a.m. from someone who saw tire tracks going over the dike at Riverview Drive and 2nd Street.

The Pavek Museum of Broadcasting in St. Louis Park is a broadcast bridge between past and present. From radio receivers to transmitters and televisions, it has a little bit of everything, including how WCCO became WCCO.

A funeral was held Saturday afternoon for Kira Steger in Rothschild, Wis. Steger’s body was recovered from the Mississippi River in May, five months after she went missing. At Saturday’s funeral, Kira’s sister Felicia Krejci said she holds Kira’s memory with her every day. “I can see her face laughing at me because I‘m the silly little sister,” Krejci said.

Mayors from Mississippi River cities are calling on Congress to increase funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for infrastructure improvements and dredging projects that keep commerce flowing on the important waterway.

A body was removed from the Mississippi River on Sunday near Riverfront Park in Fridley, according to the Anoka County Sheriff’s office. Authorities say the body of an adult male was spotted by a person in a canoe at 2 p.m. near the river’s shore, close to the 5200 block of East River Road. The body was recovered by the Anoka County dive team, and turned over to the Anoka County Medical Examiner’s office. The sheriff’s office says no foul play is suspected.

Family members of 20-year-old Anarae Schunk are combing an area near the Mississippi River for her body, according to the Facebook page created for her search effort. People are searching for the missing University of Minnesota student near Pickerel Lake in Lilydale, as well as areas in the vicinity of Highway 46 near Rosemount and Farmington. Burnsville Police told Schunk’s family Saturday that they are certain she’s dead. They have not yet disclosed what evidence points to that conclusion.

A Minnesota woman is recovering at an Illinois hospital after being held captive on a boat on the Mississippi River for two weeks, according to authorities. According to KHQA-TV, the Adams County Sheriff’s office received a phone call at 11 a.m. Friday about a boat that matched the description of one connected to a missing Minnesota woman. Authorities stopped the suspect boat in Quincy at Lock and Dam 21. After a brief standoff, the male suspect was taken in to custody.

The trial for a man accused of murdering his wife and dumping her body in the Mississippi River is set to begin Thursday in St. Paul. Opening statements are scheduled for Thursday in the trial of Jeffery Trevino, who is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Kira Steger.

Hikers, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts are asked to be mindful of an investigation into the disappearance of a 24-year-old woman, who’s been missing since May, as they’re out along the Mississippi River in central Minnesota.